Percentage of skiers that can carve a turn... way too small...

[mdf]

I have found that carving boiler plate requires very sharp edges, sharp enough to shave with.

And a delicate feel. The worst Iever experienced was about 10 years ago at Stowe. They had misjudged the thaw-refreeze cycle, so Liftline was a smooth tilted surface. If I tried to stop by a gentle version of a hockey stop, I could slow down to walking speed but no slower. I was able to stop by pointing my skis downhill and then very smoothly and carefully carving till I was perpendicular to the slope.

 

[Tony S]

I also use "boiler plate" and "bullet proof" for hard white

What I mean by boiler-plate, is it's like ice, but the same colour as snow.

Right. Like the mineral deposit you get on the steamer for your wood stove, or inside your tea kettle. Thus the name. My dad was in the Navy in WWII. Learned this from him.

 

[anders_nor]

one of the few 100mm skis that can rip ice is mantra 102 imho

@François Pugh had to straighten the skie due to some buuuumps (also wanted do jump the bumps)

 

[Tom K.]

Love carving, but I really stopped by just to say that every time I see the @WynnDuffy moniker, it makes me want to re-watch Justified!

 

[Guy in Shorts]

Killington can get some pretty awesome boilerplate. Today we had a pretty good refreeze but not as bad as this pic from three years ago. Have to be able to ski the ice to get to the powder sometimes. Broke out my Stockli SC's due to the hard surface and sub zero temps. First run skied into some wonky windblown powder were the skis hooked up tossing me into an evergreen. Total pilot error that never would have happened if my Mantra's were on my feet.

 

[Wilhelmson]

That's why God invented these babies.

For ice I prefer a sharp file job, no stone.

 

[François Pugh]

I'm still pretty dissatisfied with my tuning abilities. With that being said, I have found that a file will get me a sharp edge, but using a medium and then a fine stone after filing will make that edge last longer.

 

[PowHog]

IMHO carving is an area where some solid instruction can make a significant difference in a positive way.

 

[Mike King]

For all of you wide ski carving folk, a contrarian view backed by data:

 

[Tony S]

For all of you wide ski carving folk, a contrarian view backed by data:

I will jump right on this next time I have a spare hour and a half. LOL!

 

[Tom K.]

Thread is losing steam after only 17 pages, so new question:

WHAT PERCENTAGE OF SKIERS CAN CARVE WHILE RIDING SWITCH, AND HOW CAN WE INCREASE THAT?!?!

 

[anders_nor]

switch carves are fuuun, but I chicken out, on anything over a green/blue. an Ex-racing buddy of mine will switchcarve our local black run... on any racing ski..... ( he is not normal)

Also switch carving can demotivate the person you are trying to teach howto carve (source, the person I was trying to teach carving, aka one of my buddies who is better at après, than ski)

 

[Tony Storaro]

Thread is losing steam after only 17 pages, so new question:

WHAT PERCENTAGE OF SKIERS CAN CARVE WHILE RIDING SWITCH, AND HOW CAN WE INCREASE THAT?!?!

The only switch I care about is my 8# Sage One so I am out.

 

[slowrider]

A flat tail ski on a smooth surface, ok. Uneven surface, no. Twin tips ftw.

 

[Tom K.]

So, obviously a joke, but seriously, the best switch carving ski ever made is the classic Nordica Firearrow.

Those turned up tails are also astoundingly friendly in moguls.

 

[scott43]

Killington can get some pretty awesome boilerplate. Today we had a pretty good refreeze but not as bad as this pic from three years ago. Have to be able to ski the ice to get to the powder sometimes. Broke out my Stöckli SC's due to the hard surface and sub zero temps. First run skied into some wonky windblown powder were the skis hooked up tossing me into an evergreen. Total pilot error that never would have happened if my Mantra's were on my feet.

View attachment 126404

So for the Westerners..when you say ice....this is what ice means to me!

 

[François Pugh]

^^ yeah, that rough ice, or the smooth stuff you get whenever 1/2 and inch or more of ice accumulates during freezing rain events.

 

[Tom K.]

So for the Westerners..when you say ice....this is what ice means to me!

So?

 

[WynnDuffy]

So for the Westerners..when you say ice....this is what ice means to me!

Speaking as a former snowboard bum from Squaw Valley, any resort that is regularly above freezing in the daytime will have nasty ice and that definitely includes Tahoe. But it also gets routinely freshened up with two foot dumps. In the East we're like "we got six inches, maybe it will bond?"

 

[Tony S]

Speaking as a former snowboard bum from Squaw Valley, any resort that is regularly above freezing in the daytime will have nasty ice and that definitely includes Tahoe.

And how many hours or days typically go by before the ice turns back into something skiable? I have never skied there so I have no real clue. My sense, though, is if you wait a couple hours or a couple days, the sun will come out and soften things up. True? (Here the sun does nothing until April. It just sits there and be's yellow.)